The present invention relates to laundry products. More particularly, the present invention relates to compositions for laundry use and laundry sheets containing these compositions.
Laundry detergents are commonly dispensed into washing machines by measuring various amounts of liquid or powder detergents into cups or other measuring devices. This is inconvenient, and the consumer's time is wasted by measuring the correct amount of detergent for each load of laundry. Furthermore, when liquid or powder detergents are measured out into cups or other measuring devices, there exists a common problem of spillage of detergents around the washing machine.
Attempts have been made to develop acceptable laundry products having a detergent composition impregnated onto a soluble or insoluble fabric sheet. These laundry products desirably are dry to the touch, or in other words, have a "dry hand." At the same time, however, these products should have sufficient detergency, antistatic, and fabric softening properties, while also having a structure and composition simple enough to allow for simple and efficient production of the laundry product.
Other attempts to overcome the disadvantages of measuring out detergents include the use of a detergent pouch which is held together with a water soluble adhesive. These products avoid the necessity for a dry hand by placing little or no components of the detergent composition on the outside surfaces of the pouch. In theory, the pouch becomes unglued in the wash water and releases detergent chemicals into the washing machine. However, the detergent chemicals in the pouch sometimes form clumps which do not break or solubilize to release detergent into the wash water. Also, residual detergent chemicals may remain on the clothes if the detergent in the pouch forms insoluble clumps.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,703,772 discloses heat-sensitive organic detergents, which may contain powdered silica to decrease decomposition of the detergents' components by improving drying rates needed to produce a dry product.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,199,464 discloses substrate articles containing mixtures of cationic and nonionic surfactants, which also may contain silica to minimize the bleeding characteristics of the product during storage.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,635,467 discloses free flowing granular detergent compositions which contain "barrier materials" such as amorphous silica, silicon dioxide, crystalline-free silicon dioxide, and/or synthetic amorphous silicon dioxide hydrate. According to the '467 patent, the "barrier materials" isolate surfactant laden builder particles from adjacent surfactant laden particles to prevent further agglomeration or coalescence.
Accordingly, there is a need for a detergent composition that may be easily produced, and also applied to a substrate to form a laundry sheet. Also, there is a need for a laundry sheet having a dry hand that is acceptable to the consumer market, yet having sufficient detergent and/or fabric softening properties to serve as an effective laundry product. There is also a need for laundry sheet products that are relatively simple to manufacture.